Petcha Kutcha

I chose to do my Petcha Kutcha on Healthy Living and Fitness. Here is th link to my google presentation:
http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AS33NMMlT4d1ZGM4azNoMzlfMjBmcms3MnRjeg&hl=en


Here it is embedded:




I chose to do a voicethread. Here is my link to the voicethread presentation:

the Wizard Of Apps

Ok. this is a take off on The Wizard f oz. This time Dorothy is in search of Apps to use. She wants a saftey app for myspace. She is also looking for a digital footprint application. First topic discussed is Digital Citizenship. We learn how to search for people using PIPL. This, in itself, is kind of scary.
Next they talk about Intelectual property. This deals with applications used for copyright material. Also, how to find material, you can use, that is not copyrighted. She does show a list of some really cool work cited apps. There are quite afew that do the format for you. All you have to do is put in the general information. A site I found usefull was citation machine. Next she goes through research and ways to develop your research. Then we find tools for searching the web. Thre is agreat deal of time spent aiding your information fluency. You are showed many differnt ways to search and find information. More options are given as opposed to just using Google for everything.
Next we talk about Creativity and Innovation. Creativity applications involve digital storytelling. There are differnt websites which aid you in digital storytelling. Included is an app we used in this class..voicethread. Differnt websites are shown that can assist you in animation.
The next topic and last..thankfully is collaboration and communication. Sites such as Twiiter are detailed in this section. Skype and Diigo are also mentioned as apps which aid in communication and colaboration.
I have been to some of the apps that Joyce lists in her presentation. One i had not been to yet I tried was Citation Machine. I love how this app puts your bibliography together. You choose the format and all you need is general information. The app does the ret. I will be using this website for the rest of my college career.
This video is very long and can be found here: http://dotsub.com/view/b957d7b5-282e-41c2-8c46-ec27ba20eb91

WAtch it here:

Second Life: Orientation.

The video talks about the way in which Second Life is being used in various ways. Second Life is being used for orientations and how to introduce people to Second Life. In all honesty, this video really meant nothing to me. I could enjoy using second life if i had to use it for say a Job Orientation. I mean who wouldnt want to have a make believe character and run around doing stuff in a game style atmosphere on your first day at a new job? Overall, though, i do not see myself ever using Second life. The link is: http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=446

YOu can watch it here:

Sam the Media Queen

The video talks about Sam. She is someone who is ultizing technology in almost every aspect of her life. She has a great understanding of most technology. Sam is fiften years old and actually helps college students with their computer problems relating to graphics. She uses her IPOD to read books as opposed to reading an actual book. I guess it works because she is on the honor roll. She spends alot of her time playing World of Warcraft. She also uses her video camera to do a lot of recording. The video can be found here:http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-profile-sam-video

You can watch it here:



I have mixed feelings about this video. I can appreciate her use of technology to do school assignments. i can even understand the use of text messaging and video camera stuff. She is a teen afterall. However, to try and praise her countless hours of playing world of warcraft as educational. I disagree. I have tried World of Warcraft and found lots of swearing, sex talk, and countless hours of violence. Im not sure Id want my fifteen year old spending that much time on a game that has that sort of subject matter. I think the downloading books on her Iphone is interesting. If it works then I am cool with it.

Paula and her love of Wikis.

This video details Paula White's incorporation of wikis into her classroom. She, at first, gives examples of Wiki'sshe has done a search for. She notes that she can find subjects related to places to collaborate notes, group collaboration sentences, and teacher practices.However, there is no place for student practices or content related to students when she searchrd available wikis.

Paula says Wikis engage students. Moreover, students want to have choice, authenticity and novel/variety then students will become engaged.
She has incorporated wikis into her fifth grade class. She has students create web pages and discussions on wikis. She claims wikis are motivating. Students want to work on wikis away from school. She then gives examples of students and how they used wiki for various reasons.
She used wikis with 3rd graders as well. She used math activites to teach her students. She used wikis to create conversations. She had students discuss presidential candidates.
She wants other teachers to use wikis and for the whole teacher community to share thoughts and ideas. The video can be found at http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=576.

You can also watch it here:



I personally, think wikis might be a good tool in educating. Allowing students the oppurtunity to engage in an activity that goes beyond pencil and paper is always a good idea. Technology is rapidly advancing and tools for education are becoming wider with less emphasis on oencil and paper. I think having children create wikis helps them to enhance creativity aspects of their learning as well as subject oriented material.

Screencast

My screencast dealt with embedding video into a blog.

Here is the link:
http://screenr.com/dfW


Here is the video

Smart Board use in Elementary Schools

smart board video placed here: